An Apology, Life Updates and Some Exciting News

Sorry for the lack of posts since late May. I've been very busy at work with exams season and in my other career-based projects, as well as with lots of events in my social and personal life. I was also in a bit of a blogging slump ever since the marathon of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to share some of my creative artwork and poetry again, but I was tired out afterwards. I also took on a few too many book reviews and found myself rushing to get them posted in time. Things are finally starting to settle down and I'm feeling much less burnt out and ready to get back into the swing of things with blogging regularly again.

So what have I been up to for the last couple of months? Well I've been expanding my writing, editing and design business and have recently designed the website for my local Italian restaurant, Italian Connection. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I've also been doing some personal tutoring. As well as that, my day job has been full on during exams season and there have been so many meals and parties. This last weekend was a particularly busy one, with a wedding reception, meet-up with old friends, murder mystery birthday party and family birthday dinner. All the socialising was fun but my introvert batteries are feeling a little drained!

Here are a few other things that have happened recently:

Our Anniversary

It was our first wedding anniversary on May 3rd and we went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron at the cinema. I know, how romantic? My review of the film will be coming soon. I was treated to lots of lovely gifts from Mr CT, including a beautiful gold parker pen (he knows the way to my heart).

1940s Dance

On May 23rd my family and I went to a 1940s dance inside an aircraft hanger at East Kirkby. Everyone dressed up in vintage clothes and we all shared a picnic. There was a big band and we enjoyed dancing along to some classics like ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’. There was a fantastic atmosphere and I loved every minute.

Double-Decker Glamping 

In early June I went camping in a fully-furnished double-decker bus with some of my family. The bus was amazing and was fitted with a complete kitchen, lounge area, beds for six people and a shower room. It was certainly a different experience and I preferred it to camping in a wet, draughty tent!

Garden Redesign

We’ve also got a new car recently and had a landscaper in to re-do our whole garden based on our own designs. The drive still has to be done and we’re having some railings and a gate added, but i's getting there.

I planted everything myself, including a Buddleia bush, lots of flowering shrubs and four different types of lavender to attract the bumble bees. I’m not very green fingered so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to maintain it.

And the Big One..

The biggest thing that’s going on in my life right now is that me and Mr CT are finally able to share some exciting news-we’re expecting a baby! It'll be 18 weeks on Wednesday and we've had our first scan which was all fine so we've recently shared the news with our friends, family and colleagues. I've suffered with morning all day sickness for several weeks, which is another reason I haven’t felt like blogging. Hopefully now I'm into the 2nd trimester this will start to ease up. We’re due on the 23rd December, which could make for a very interesting Christmas!

This is the announcement we used for Facebook:

I’ve decided not to do many pregnancy updates on here, mainly because I don’t want to bore you with too much baby-related stuff and also because I want to stay true to the purpose of this blog, which is to discuss books and creative hobbies. I also don’t like sharing too much of my personal life online-especially the icky parts (of which I’m sure there will soon be many).

Anyway, I’m currently planning and scheduling some book and film related posts and memes, including reviews of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Jurassic World and Allegiant, so stay tuned. Have a lovely week, everyone.